


Nothing Compares

by purplebass



Category: The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Last Hours Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family Fluff, Father's Day, Love, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 08:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24846958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplebass/pseuds/purplebass
Summary: It's Father's Day and Will Herondale can't find his family anywhere. Where did they go? A one shot about Will's 5th Father's Day with cute moments with Tessa, Lucie and James. Fluff.
Relationships: Tessa Gray & James Herondale & Lucie Herondale & Will Herondale, Tessa Gray/Will Herondale
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23
Collections: Wessa





	Nothing Compares

**_June, 1891_ **

Will stretched his limbs under the blankets and opened his eyes. Like every morning after he woke up, he glanced on the left side of the bed. Tessa’s side of the bed. It was an automatic instinct to search for her, to see her beautiful face buried on the pillow, touch her slim body hidden by the heavy duvet, and steal a quick kiss on her half-closed lips. Sometimes she was still asleep when he woke up first, other times her eyes were already wide open and fixated on him, bright grey and dark blue meeting and speaking words of love without uttering actual words.

But not that morning.

Will yawned and looked at the clock, maybe he overslept. It was Sunday, after all. No. It was barely after seven in the morning, and he wasn’t late, at least. Will loved routines, he got used to spending the first hours of the day getting ready with his wife, then checking on his children James and Lucie. Now that they were five and four years old respectively, he and Tessa could sleep better at night, but there were moments where either one of them would sneak into their bedroom and ask for a story because they couldn’t sleep.

“Pap, mam, the story with the ghost was nice but it’s scaring me,” Lucie said one night, coming to the bed to tug on her mother’s nightgown and asking to stay until she would fall asleep.

Will and Tessa exchanged a smile and let little Lucie on their bed, then they kissed her cheeks and helped her under the covers. “Lulu, dear. You don’t have to be afraid of ghosts,” Tessa told her.

“Especially considering that you can see ghosts, Lucie,” Will added, and Tessa glared at him. Lucie was puzzled but at some point, she opened her mouth as if in fear.

“Will, _bach_ , don’t you think that is too early for this conversation? She just turned three.”

“But she can already see Jessamine, don’t you, Lu?”

“You mean the white lady, dad?”

Will smirked. “Yes, the _white lady_. She’s a ghost. And she means well, so you shouldn’t be afraid of her. At least.”

Lucie looked at both her parents vaguely, then she smiled. “Okay. Then I won’t be afraid of ghosts anymore. I love ghosts!” she said cheerily, and both Will and Tessa laughed.

If he had to say what he loved the most about being married, besides the person he was married to, he’d say that he loved being a father. James and Lucie were easy to love. They were kind children, they were smart, and it seemed that they would learn to read on their own very soon. James was already starting to get acquainted with books, and Will and Tessa couldn’t be happier. He was their son, after all, and they knew that Lucie would probably follow into her brother’s footsteps soon.

Will decided to get ready and go find Tessa and the kids. His wife suggested they take James and Lucie to the park and have a picnic, since the weather seemed nice and it was enough warm to eat outside. He washed his face and brushed his messy black hair, then, after washing up and changing into a dark blue suit, he headed downstairs. He thought it was weird that in the time he spent getting ready Tessa nor his children went to look for him.

James usually came before Lucie to say hi to his parents because he wanted Will to read to him about weapons and stuff, even if Tessa believed her son to be too young to know about the difference between a scythe and a staff.

“Oh, I like the throwing knife,” James said once, while they were huddled on the sofa in the drawing room, a book about weapons in his hands that Will was holding with the hand at the end of the arm he had on James’ tiny shoulder.

“Why that one?” Will wondered, curious. He also liked throwing knives. He smirked at James.

James shrugged. “I don’t know, perhaps because the smallest things are the ones that cut deepest.”

Will couldn’t help but be proud of his oldest son, he almost teared up at how James was only four but he already had these simple yet complex thoughts running through his head.

“Do you want papa to teach you, Jamie?”

James’ golden eyes lit up and he grinned widely, then got out of his father’s semi-embrace and stood up. “Yes, pap! I would love that!”

“What are you talking about, you two?” Tessa asked. She had just entered the drawing room with Lucie holding her hand.

“Pap said that he’ll teach me how to throw a knife,” James admitted.

Tessa tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrows, gazing at Will as if she wanted to put a dagger in her husband’s back. “Your father is going to do _what_?”

“Come on, Tess. He’s old enough!” He protested.

“What if he hurts himself? He’s still too young.”

“But I’ve just turned four!” Jamie protested as well, pouting his lips.

Tessa rolled her eyes. “Alright, Jamie. But _your father William_ is only going to show you.” She said, glancing at her son first and her husband next. It wasn’t lost on Will that when Tessa used his full name, she was reprimanding him. “You’re still too little to hold a knife in your hands. Do you understand it, _bach_?”

“Why can’t I throw knives, mam? I’ll be careful.” James tried again.

Tessa moved closer to James and caressed his cheek. “I know you’re a careful child, James. But my answer is no. You’ll have time to learn.”

“What’s the worst that could happen, Tess?”

Tessa rolled her eyes at her husband’s antics. “What’s the worst that could happen, you say? Nothing, if you don’t give a dangerous weapon to your 4-year-old son. But if you do, and James happens to hurt himself, your dear wife Tessa could use that knife to hurt you too,” she said with a tone between the serious and the sarcastic.

No, Will knew that Tessa would be totally able to hurt him with a knife, to cut…

Will grinned at the memory. He still taught Jamie about weapons, of course, but Tessa didn’t know that when she was somewhere else, he also started showing his son basic training stuff in the training room. It was better if Tessa never found out.

He went downstairs and looked for the rest of his family. “Tess! James! Lucie!” he called as he walked in the long corridor of the Institute. The bright light of the morning filtered from the windows and brightened the floors, making the crests of the Shadowhunters families Tessa had decided to décor the walls with seem colorful and lively.

He checked the kitchen and the drawing room and his children’s rooms, but they weren’t there. Nobody was in sight, not just because it was Sunday, but because Will and Tessa and their children were the only ones living at the Institute. Well, them and Bridget, their cook.

At some point during his fruitless search, he decided to go back to his room to bring his hat downstairs, so that once he’d find his loved ones, they’d be ready to go. That was when he noticed there was a white envelope on his nightstand.

 _To the head of the London Institute_ , it said. Will frowned. When mail came on Sundays, it rarely meant well. He took a small knife from his vest – he never left the Institute without at least a dozen blades – and opened the white piece of paper.

_Mr. William Herondale, I am holding something dear of yours. If you don’t get in touch in the next 24 hours, I’m going to keep it. Be quick. Go to the stables. You’ll find the next clue._

Will started to panic. “Tessa… James… Lucie…” he whispered, then he threw the envelope and the piece of paper on the floor, discarded his hat on the bed, and run where the note said.

Once he reached the stables of the Institute, he was out of breath. He literally bolted there, ready to turn the place upside down and find the next clue. He grabbed the side of the entrance door to catch his breath for a second, then, when he was about to spring back into action, that’s when he saw them. His dear family.

They were standing in front of Balios and Xanthos’ stalls, Tessa behind their kids wearing a dark blue dress that matched his suit, and James and Lucie wearing their toddler clothes in a similar color.

Will was bewildered. He didn’t know whether to cry or laugh, so he did both. As he got closer to his family, he had tears in his eyes and was laughing softly.

“You’re okay, _fy anwyliaid **[1]**_ ,” he murmured between laughs, hugging Lucie and James in the same embrace and kissing their cheeks. Then he looked at Tessa, who was smirking, amused. Something passed between the two in that glance, something unspoken. “What are you doing here? I just thought… I was about to have a heart attack.”

“We were waiting for you, pap,” James said, tugging on Will’s hand.

“But the envelope…”

“I wrote it,” Tessa admitted.

Will frowned. “That’s why the handwriting was so familiar.”

“But I didn’t think it would shake you so much.”

Will shook his head and smiled. “Well, at least it wasn’t true. I can’t have a heart attack, I’m still thirty-one. By the way, are you here for the carriage?”

Tessa shook her head. “You can tell him now, _cariad_ ,” she said, looking at James and Lucie.

“We have a gift for you, papa,” Lucie said.

“A gift… for me? Why is that?”

“It’s Father’s Day!” James said excitedly.

Will seemed to think about it for a moment. “Right, it’s true! But you didn’t have to do anything, my loves. Really. I’m happy just being your papa.”

“No!” Lucie exclaimed. “You deserve a gift for being such a cool papa. Because you tell me stories about ghosts and you take me out to pet dogs in the park. And because you put me on your shoulders when I can’t see well because I’m little.”

“Lucie is right. I love when you teach me about weapons,” little Jamie said. “Or when you play chess with me. I love you, dad. And _Sul y Tadau Hapus_.”

Will looked at his children in awe. He still didn’t know what he did to deserve his family, who showered him with love every day and that he also covered with affection every minute of his existence. “I love you more, my Lucie and James,” he told them, and knelt down to hug them again.

“Why are you crying, papa? You still haven’t seen the gift!” Lucie exclaimed with her little voice in the crook of Will’s neck, making him laugh.

“Alright, Lulu. Let’s see this gift. I’m sure it’s beautiful.”

He stood up again and grabbed his children’s hands. Lucie on his left side, James on his right. They passed Balios and Xanthos, then walked towards the third stall, which, to Will’s surprise, wasn’t empty anymore.

“Ta-da!” Lucie said with even more excitement than before. “Meet Achilles.”

“Wait, what?”

“He’s Achilles, the new member of the Institute. And your own horse,” James said.

Achilles was a beautiful blond stallion. The name was perfect, he thought, and wondered who came up with it. Probably Tessa. “He’s beautiful,” Will said, then reached out to stroke his blond mane. The horse remained still at first, then he moved his head a bit as if he was enjoying it.

“Do you like it, papa?” James asked.

“Of course, papa likes Achilles,” Lucie interjected. “Don’t you, dad?”

Will couldn’t help but smile widely at his children. “Papa adores Achilles. In fact, he can’t wait to ride him, but didn’t we have to go on a picnic today?”

“Yes!” Jamie and Lucie said in unison.

“Let’s ride the horses to the park!” Lucie added.

Will looked at his daughter with affection and caressed her hair, then looked at Tessa. “As much as dad would love that, it’s better if we take the carriage. Achilles can drive us. What do you say?” Tessa asked the kids, which agreed.

A couple of minutes later, after preparing Achilles for the ride, everyone sat in the carriage and were moving to reach their destination. As James and Lucie spoke to each other about something Matthew Fairchild did to his brother Charles, Will and Tessa sat close together. He grabbed his wife’s hand and kissed it, then placed it on his lap.

“I was really about to have a heart attack, Tess. Don’t you care about your husband’s well-being?”

“Shush, it was a great idea,” Tessa replied.

Will looked at her with astonishment. “Great idea, Tessa? What if I really died and you’d find me hours later in a puddle of blood because I hit my head on the head of the bed?”

“You’re so dramatic, Will. Besides, you don’t bleed when you have a heart attack. And even if you hit your head, you still wouldn’t bleed.”

They both laughed at that.

“I wonder what would I do without you, Tess,” Will said timidly, drawing circles with his finger on her hand.

“You would join a theatrical company and become an actor so you could put your histrionics to good use,” Tessa told him with a smirk.

“Nah, I’m okay doing my histrionics in front of the Clave.”

“What would _they_ do without you,” Tessa commented, knowing that the Clave still had some issues about Will being the head of the London Institute and Tessa being his wife.

“They need someone to teach them good manners,” Will agreed. “Anyway, _bach_ , I…” he stopped, trying to find the words to say. “ _Dwi'n dy garu gymaint_. I love you so much, Tess. Thank you for being with me every step of the way. Every step.”

Tessa adjusted Will’s hair behind his ear and stroke his cheek with fondness. “I love you too, Will. And happy Father’s Day,” she whispered, then she kissed him on the lips with adoration.

“I wouldn’t be a father without you, my Tess,” he said once they finished kissing. “So, thank _you_.”

“Ay, I also want a kiss!” Lucie said, then grabbed Will’s hand, breaking his moment with his wife.

“Me too!” James joined his sister.

“Alright, alright! We’ll kiss you both, kids. But since you had your fair share of kisses at the stables before we came here, I need to kiss your mother first.”

“But, but… you’ve just kissed mom!” Lucie protested, and couldn’t help but shake her head and look at her older brother when her parents exchanged another kiss.

[1] My loved ones


End file.
